Fruit-grader.



No. 891,225. PATENTED JUNE 23, 1908.

W. G. ANDERSON.

FRUIT GRADER.

APPLICATION FILED APR,11, 1905.

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v PATENTED JUNE 23, 1908.

W. G. ANDERSON.

FRUIT GRADER. APPLICATION FILED 11133.11, 1905.

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' PATENTED JUNE-23, 1908.

I W. G. ANDERSON.

' FRUIT GRADER.

, APPLIOATION FILED APR. 11, 1905 4 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

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No. 891,225. PATENTED JUNB423, 1908.

W. a. ANDERSON.

FRUIT GRADER.

APPLICATION FILED APR.11, 1905.

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ls larly adapted to UNITED STATES PATENT()j jiFFI(-3]31iv WILLIAM G. ANDERSON, OF SAN JOSE, CALIFORNIA.

' ERUIT-GBADERR" To all whom it may concern: I Be it known that I, WILLIAM C. ANDER- SON, citizen of the United States, residing at San Jose, in the county of Santa Clara and 5 State of California, have invented certain new and useful Improvements Fruit- Graders; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the same. I

ing or sizing substances and materials made up of discrete particles or separate units.

The form of the device which will be used herein to illustrate this invention is particugrading fruits, vegetables, nuts and the like. The common practice heretoforehas bee to provide separate machines especially adapted to handle each distinct type of fruit, vegetables, nut or the like.

One of the objects of the present invention is to provide in a single unified structure, a device capable of grading practically all characters of fruit, vegetables, nuts and the like, either in their natural states or as prepared for consumption, regardless of shape, texture and substance of the units.

The difficulties in the problem, the solu' tion of which is presented in the present invention, are not confined to variations in form, though these range from the spherical orange to *the elongated cucumber. Many of the materials operated upon are of a sticky, gummy, juicy and otherwise messy character.

essarily employed in the industries involved, make absolute simplicity a requirement almost equal in importance to efficiency.

'In many of the fruit sections, the ranches 40 are of small area,-from ten to twenty acres each, and many of thelarge fruit ranches are, blocked into areas of about the same si e, each devoted to a specific class of fruit or roduct. This segregation of areas both in mdividual and separate ownerships, renders it desirable that a device of this character should be readily movable from place to place. In other words, that it shall be a knockdown machine. One which can be 0 transported in small compass and reassembled without diflieulty or delayand require no adjustment on re-assembhng. To pro- Owing to the nature of the process of grad- Speeifieation of Letters Patent. Application filed April 11, 1905. Serial No. 255,003.

This invention relates to a device for grad Further; the character; of the help nec- Patented lune 23, 1908.

ing and the material to be operated upon, one of the elements of the problem is that while the ungraded material must be handled in bulk, theseparate pieces should be dealt with individually. It therefore becomes necessary that provision be made as a preliminary to grading, that while the mate. rial is' fed to the machine indiscriminately,

some device must be provided or some'prov1s1on made, which will effect the rapid sepa-.

ration of the individual pieces fromthe mass fed to the machine. This separating device too, must be of a naturewhich, whrlehandlin'g the material rapidly, will not bruise,

.mar or disfigure the individual pieces during the process of feeding and separating.

These diverse functions are accomplished by means of very simple devices. They are il ustrated in the accompanying drawings.

Described generally the machine consists in a series of inter-changeable units, by the addition or subtraction of which or parts 7 thereof, the length, character and adaptability to various characters of materials and grading is provided for. Each of these sections, the details of constructionof which 7 will be more fully described hereinafter, consists in a pair of removable oppositely rotating cylinders adjacent to each other and provided with variously formed surfaces, suitable to, the varying requirements of the different materials. These cylinders are preferably parallel to each other, with their axes horizontal and are supported loosely upon cradles consisting of rotatable bearing' disks or rollers. Usually a series of pairs of these rotating cylinders are placed end to end, the lateral distance between the members of each succeeding pair being progressively wider. Each sect-ion with its -c linders and driving mechanism is a comp etc and separable unitin itself, but which when placed in position unites itself by the mere act. of placin it, not'only in proper operative position ciation with the unit to which itis joined. Thus, not only is the device divisible ,into operative units or sections but the cylinders of each section being merely laid loosely upon their bearing cradles, are themselves removable and inter-chan eable.

' A more detailed tion will now be given, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, which illustrate the form of machine adapted to grade fruit and, vegetable products.

ut also in driving assodescription of this inven- Figurel is a perspective view of an assembled, section unit, thev sizing and conveying cylindersbeing, shown dotted. Fig. 2

-'chine, with feec er sections or units at two ,points.

driving disks, with cylinders in position. Fig. 6 is a plan section of-the bearing and driving disks, showing their couplin and interlocking devices. Fig. 7 is an, en view of Fig. 6. Fig. 8 is a plan view of a section show ng conical forms of feeder cylinders. Fi 9 is a plan view of a detail of adjacent cylinders on a large-scale showing a form of surface gressive y increasing plitch with a portion of an adjacent section avin a surface rovided with helical ridges of ner and u orm pitch. Fig. 10 is a detail of a portion of the roll showing a surface of flexible v yielding ridges. illustrating their engagement with an article in the process of grading. Fig. 11 is a plan view of a detail showing the feeding and spacing cylinder with thread of increasing pitch.

n view of'the sectional character of the device, a descriptionof one section will serve for-the complete machine, each' being substantially like every other with the exception inders. ferential surface varying in accordance with the function intended to be performed or ournal oxes.

of the variations in the interchangeable cyl- These are provided with a circumthe material it isf'to operate upon. Referring therefore to Fig. 1, a suitable frame is provided, consisting members 1 and 2 respectively placed a suitable distance apart and s aced and held rigidly in relation to each 0t er by tie bolts 3 passin through sections of pipe 4 or other suitab e spacing devices. Upon the upper surface of this frame are located bearings 5 preferabl formed with open top or U shape J ournaled in these boxes and extending from one frame member to the other are shafts 6, parallel to each other and provided on each of theirends with bearing rollers ordisks 7. .These disks are provided. with interlockin devices in order to engage with similar rol ers or disks upon an adjacent section. These interlocking devices or clutches may be of any suitable form. They are here shown as'consisting of a projecting member 8 and-a socket or recess 9 located on opposite sides of the disk center.

A loose circular plate 10 is also provided of provided to be interchanged with those '00- Fig. 3 is a side elevation of Fig. 2.

Fig. 5 is a detail of the bearing and rovidedwith helical ridges of proreferably of two cy nders are. preferably parallel to each other and are separated to leave a spacebetween their adjacent surfaces. The section is provided. with a suitable discharge chute 12 beneaththe cylinders 11 to receive and discharge the material which drops bet-ween.

The initial section may be supplied with any suitable form of hopper or feed chute 13 as shown in Figs. 3, 4 and 8. The power mechanism for this section may consist, as shown, of a belt 14 from a suitable source of power todrive the wheels 15 and 16 secured upon the ends of the shafts 17 and 18 which correspond to and couplewith theshafts 6 as heretofore described.-

The sections are securely locked to each other by hookclamps or any other suitable connection. I have shown for this purpose, flat pieces 19 with slotted bolt holes which fit over and are secured by the'hand operated bolts 20 as shown in Fig. 3 and particularly in Fig. 1.

j -'The number of sections is determined by cases where a large number of variations of grade is desired, or when material,-owing to its peculiar or irregular form, requires a long distance for its proper grading.

As this device in addition to beinga grader is inherently a conveyer, sections may be interposed. between grading sections to act purely as conveyers and thus the discharge points of the various grades may be se arated widely. This facilitates the handlmg of the grades in connection with other processes, such as canning, boxin etc.

With regard now to the cy inders. These are provided with different characters of sur-' face depending uponthe nature of the material to be graded-in', accordance with the rinciples referred to hereinbefore. Certain road lines can be laid down which will enable,those skilled in the art to make particular application and to provide cylinders of a character ada ted to any particular form of fruit, vegetab e or other material. The appropriate motion to resent the material properly tothe successively increasing gradmg spaces between the c linders, is secured by the opposite rotationa motion of the cylinders of and the action of the helically ridged .surface. Purely progressive travel or purely,

rotational movement can be impressed upon ment, one of each pair of cylinders is sup plied with a right hand thread, its adjacent c linder bein provided with a left hand t read, both t eads or helices being of like pitch. To add rotation to the movement of advance, one of the cylinders may be pro 'vided with a thread of different pitch. The pitch and rotational speed, control the character and amount of the travel of the pieces. I

In some instances, the ridges may be .nonhelical or absent on one of the pairs of cylinders. The first necessity in grading and especially with this particular form of device,

is, that from the promiscuous supply dis regard to the form .or character of the madling soft or bruisable fruit to make the heli terial to be operated upon, so that it will seldom be necessary to make any great variation in the initial cylinders from that described, except that it is advisable when hancal corrugations of yielding or resilient material, such for example, as rubber, felt, or the like.

In Fig. 8 I have shown a modification of the spacer or separator, consisting of smooth surface truncated cones. These may be set at a slight downward angle from the feed chute to the first cylinders. This form may be used on material which would be deleteri ously affected by the helical ridges.

. are fed. They then progressively advance and drop through the widening spaces as they reach them." The pieces are caused to rotate or not as required, de ending upon the characterof cylinders, as heretofore described.

Any change in the motion of the fruit may be brought about by changing the character of the cylinders and this is accomplished by merely lifting out one or more of the cylinders. This may be done Without'istop ing the machine if desired. Substitution 0 an ap%opriate cylinder can then be made.

hen it is necessary or desirable to shorten. the machine, the bolts 20 are loosened on the section to be removed and that section'taken away. This change in no wise affects the remaining sections except in the obvious manner of reducing the number of grades. The lengthening of the machine is simply the converse of that just described.

What I claim, is 5- l 1. A grading machine com rising a' suitable frame and'iotatable para lel sizing cylinders sup orted in said frame provided with threads of tially uniform'depth throughout, I

' 2. A grading machine com rising a suitable frame and rotatable para lel sizing cylinders sup orted in said frame provided with threads of of substantially uniform depth throughout.

different and opposite pitch and different pitch and of substan:

3. A grading machine comprising a su'itable frame and oppositely rotatable parallel sizing cylinders supported in said frame provided with threads of difierent pitch and of substantially uniform depth throughout.

4. A gradin machine com rising a suitable frame and rotatable para lel sizing cylinders supported in said frame provided with threads of different and increasing pitch and of substantially uniform depth throughout.

5. A grading machine comprising a frame and rotatable arallel sizing cylinders su ported in said rame provided with them s of different, opposite and increasing pitch and of substantially uniform depth throughout.

6. A grading machine comprising a frame and oppositely rotatable sizing cylinders horizontally sup orted in said frame pro-' vided with threat s of different and increasing pitch and of substantially uniform depth throughout.

7.-- A gradin machine comprising a suitable frame an oppositely rotatable parallel sizing cylinders supported in said frame providedwith threads of opposite and increasing pitch and of substantially uniform deptl throughout.

8. A grading machine comprising a frame and oppositely rotatable sizing cylinders horizontally supported in said frame provided with threa depth throughout. a

9. A grading machine comprising "a series of units, each unit consisting of a frame and a .pair of parallel cylinders loosely supported upon rotatable bearing rolls secured upon s of opposite, diflerent and increasing pitch and of substantially uniform pair of parallel cylinders loosely supported i upon rotatable bearing rolls journale thereon, the units forming independently removable sections, means for driving the bearing rolls and suitable connecting means between the rolls whereby the driving of one section affects the driving of .the rolls of adjacent sec tions. a

11. A grading machine comprising a series of units, each unit consisting of a frame and a pair of parallel cylinders loosely supported 13. A grading machine comprising a series of units, each unit consisting of a suitable frame and a pair of parallel rotatable cylinders supported thereon, the units forming independently removable and interchangeable sections, the distance between the mem-' bers of each succeeding pair being progress- -ivel y wider,n 1eans f0r driving the cylinders of each section and su table connectingmeans between the driving mechanism of each section whereby the driving of one section effects the driving ofthe cylinders of adj acent sections.

14. In a grading machine, a'feeder thereto comprising a pair of laterally adjacent cylinders provided with a multiple thread of increasing pitch.

15. In a grading machine, a feeder thereto comprising a pair of laterally adjacent rotatable cylinders provided with a yielding 0r resilient multiple thread ofincreasing pitch.

16. A grading machine comprising a series of independently detachable sections, one of said sections, being provided with a pair of laterally adjacent rotatable cylinders provided with a thread of increasing pitch, the ends of each pair of cylinders being operatively adjacent topermit material discharged from one pair of cylinders to be received directly on the succeeding, pair, the distance between the members of each succeeding pair being progressively wider.

17. A grading machine comprising a series of independently detachable sections, one of said sections being provided with a pair of laterally adjacent rotatable cylinders provided' with a thread of increasing pitch, the ends of each pair of cylinders being operatively adjacent, to permit material discharged from one pair of cylinders to be receiveddirectly on the succeeding pair, the

distance between the members of each succeeding pair being progressively Wider and means for connecting said sections in operative driving association with each other.

I 18. A grading machine comprising a series 'of units, each unit consisting of an independent frame and a pair of parallel cylinders loosely sup orted upon rotatable bearing rolls secured upon suitable shafts journaled on the frame, the units forming independently removable sections, the distance between the members of each succeeding pair being progressively Wider, a driving shaft to each section axially offset to the driving shaft of the adjacent section and a suitable coupling or connection between the oflset adja' cent, ends of the driving shafts whereby the driving of the shaft of one section etfects the driving of the shaft of the adjacent section, for the fed material traveling the successive pairs of rolls from the feed end.

WILLIAM c. ANDERSON,

Witnesses D. RICHARDS,

JEssE R. EOFF. 

